\u201cSo bringing Hamilton back onto the map with … big shows like the Royal New Zealand Ballet, a full NZ Symphony Orchestra, even the musicals of Hamilton Operatic Society.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t stop the line at anything … I\u2019d love a Madonna in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The $80 million BNZ Theatre, at the historic Hamilton Hotel site, has joined other local venues including Clarence Street Theatre, The Meteor, Riverlea Theatre and Claudelands Event Centre.<\/p>\n
It has been nearly 10 years in the making and was sparked by the closure of Founders Theatre.<\/p>\n
Construction officially began in November 2021, before the Waikato Regional Property Trust, which owns the theatre, announced Live Nation as the theatre\u2019s operator at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s inside<\/p>\n
The new theatre has a 1300-seat auditorium across three levels: The stalls on the ground level, the circle and the balcony.<\/p>\n
The seats on the stalls can be removed to make space for a standing crowd of 1000 people.<\/p>\n
The theatre has consent for either a fully seated audience across the three levels or for a standing audience on the ground floor only.<\/p>\n
The BNZ Theatre’s lobby features a floating staircase and the large-scale Ralph Hotere mural, commissioned by the Hamilton City Council for Founders Theatre in 1976. Photo \/ Stephen Barker<\/p>\n
Gilling said there were plans to apply for consent for a standing audience on the ground floor plus a seated audience across the two tiers, which could increase the capacity to a total of 1700 people.<\/p>\n
The theatre is equipped with an acoustic halo and acoustic shell for unamplified performance as well as a distributed acoustics sound system.<\/p>\n
The stage was scalable through giant movable panels that functioned similarly to sliding doors.<\/p>\n
The maximum width of the stage is 20.4 metres, the minimum 14m, allowing for intimate musical shows as well as huge ballet productions or a full orchestra.<\/p>\n
The stage itself has a trap feature and hydraulic ramps, and there were 16 dressing rooms in a range of sizes.<\/p>\n
Waikato as the muse<\/p>\n
Designing architect Jun Tsujimoto, of Jasmax, said the team drew inspiration for the look and feel of the space from \u201cthe local sense of place\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to create something uniquely Waikato.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething that feels like you are in the middle of nature, but also right in the city centre.\u201d<\/p>\n
BNZ Theatre is located right next to the Waikato River. Photo \/ Stephen Barker<\/p>\n
The wooden panelling inside the auditorium represented the curvature of the Waikato River, and a lot of the theatre was built using Hinuera stone.<\/p>\n
The Hamilton Hotel\u2019s facade from 1923, the staircase, and Queen\u2019s Suite from when Elizabeth II visited in the 1950s have also been incorporated.<\/p>\n
The foyer features panorama windows looking on to the Waikato River, and a floating staircase.<\/p>\n
The BNZ Theatre also ties the old to the new with the large-scale Ralph Hotere mural, commissioned by the Hamilton City Council for Founders Theatre in 1976.<\/p>\n
The BNZ Theatre is located on Hamilton’s Victoria St. The new building incorporates the Hamilton Hotel\u2019s facade from 1923. Photo \/ Stephen Barker<\/p>\n
Principal architect David Pugh, also of Jasmax, said the team had done extensive research and looked at New Zealand and overseas venues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe benchmarked dozens of theatres … If you were gonna pick one [that BNZ Theatre was inspired by], it would be the Oslo Theatre and Opera House.\u201d<\/p>\n
Endless potential<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m blown away, I really am,\u201d Gilling said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sad to see Founders [Theatre] go, but coming into here, the offers that this place gives, opens up doors … There is no show that we can\u2019t do in this theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there had been interest from local dance groups and community groups to hire the theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve [also] had quite a few inquiries for [gala dinners] and we\u2019ve even had our first wedding inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n
LiveNation NZ managing director Mark Kneebone said the theatre\u2019s versatility had been important.<\/p>\n
BNZ Theatre venue manager Michael Gilling (front) and LiveNation NZ managing director Mark Kneebone in the lobby of the new theatre. Photo \/ Danielle Zollickhofer<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most important things we wanted to achieve was to create and be a part of a community hub that can serve all kinds of content, all kinds of artists, all kinds of music and performance.<\/p>\n
\u201c[BNZ Theatre] can probably take about 90% of the different types of theatre acts in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s not that we can\u2019t do] the other 10% … but they might be better suited in other spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilling said BNZ Theatre wasn\u2019t there to steal the show.<\/p>\n
\u201dThere\u2019s certain events that can\u2019t go to Clarence St [Theatre] … there\u2019s events that are too small for us, that can go to Clarence St or The Meteor or Riverlea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t here to take away from anyone; there is a need for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Criticism<\/p>\n
The theatre development hasn\u2019t been without controversy, with concerns raised about cost, parking and use throughout the project.<\/p>\n
First-time councillor Meshweyla Macdonald acknowledged the opening on social media last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cCivic moments can co-exist with real pressure on households and businesses. Recognising one shouldn\u2019t require pretending the other isn\u2019t there,\u201d Macdonald said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people will never sit in those seats, because of cost, time, or priorities.<\/p>\n
BNZ Theatre has 16 dressing rooms in various sizes. Photo \/ Stephen Barker<\/p>\n
\u201cCivic assets should be understood clearly: what they\u2019re for, what they cost, and how they sit alongside the fundamentals people rely on every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The theatre project was led by community foundation Momentum Waikato.<\/p>\n
The Hamilton City Council contributed $25m towards the theatre\u2019s $80m price tag, including $1.1m a year over 10 years.<\/p>\n
The Waikato Regional Council contributed $5m, and the Government invested $12m from its Provincial Growth Fund.<\/p>\n
Trust Waikato contributed $15m, $4m from NZ Lotteries and $3m from the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund.<\/p>\n
The remainder came from philanthropic donations and corporate sponsorship.<\/p>\n
Dave Dobbyn performed Selected Songs at BNZ Theatre.<\/p>\n
City council venues, tourism and major events general manager Sean Murray said he was not concerned about the cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big cost, without a doubt, but … other parties have paid the bulk of it and actually taken on the responsibility and the risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s been cost-effective for what it is. Yes, it\u2019s been expensive, but that expense [was] shared across a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to concerns about parking, Gilling said: \u201cParking has been a contentious issue since day dot … [but] coming from Founders Theatre, there is a lot more offered here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are like seven public carparks within three-and-a-half to five minutes walking distance that offer around 1100 carparks, and that\u2019s not including all the street parking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another concern had been whether the theatre would be used.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty comfortable that the theatre is going to be used \u2013 we\u2019ve had lots of inquiries already.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said the theatre would offer a 40% discount to non-profits to use the theatre, and 30c from every ticket sold was allocated to a community fund to subsidise future local use.<\/p>\n
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSo bringing Hamilton back onto the map with … big shows like the Royal New Zealand Ballet, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[74,4886,1863,8834,28500,2962,156,3685,10813,6288,685,23226,111,139,69,1118,90,9214,2081,5914,5433,223,7069,61,1524,686],"class_list":{"0":"post-259001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-aims","10":"tag-back","11":"tag-big","12":"tag-bnz","13":"tag-curtain","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-events","16":"tag-grand","17":"tag-hamilton","18":"tag-last","19":"tag-map","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-of","24":"tag-on","25":"tag-put","26":"tag-raised","27":"tag-regional","28":"tag-stage","29":"tag-the","30":"tag-theatre","31":"tag-to","32":"tag-waikato","33":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}